Paris, France, March 25, 2008—A giant squid was unveiled at the Paris Natural History Museum Tuesday after becoming the first squid to be "plastinated."

In the same process used on human bodies for popular museum shows (see photos), the 21.2-foot-long (6.5-meter-long) sea beast was drained of its fluids and refilled with a polymer. The process caused the animal to shrink by about 7 feet (2.5 meters).

New Zealand officials donated ''Wheke''—named for a creature in Maori legend—to the museum after local fishers hauled up the squid in January 2000.